F1 drivers in a Reasonably Priced Car on Top Gear
The UK version of popular tv series Top Gear had a regular section called ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ where a celebrity guest had to race around the test track, Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, and set the fastest time they could. This section on the show ran for serries 1 through to series 22. The first car to be used was a Suzuki Liana.
Although other cars were used in other series, for the Formula One drivers always completed in the Suzuki Liana to ensure all times could be compared.
Formula One drivers, Top Gear and a Suzuki Liana.
In total nine formula one drivers attempted to set the fastest time around the Top Gear test track, with three drivers attempting more than once due to the first attempt not being in perfect conditions, they were either too hot or too wet, to set a comparable time.
In total three drivers had more than one attempt, these were: Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber. Only Jenson Button failed to improve on hist first time, this was due to the track being to wet rather than hot on the second attempt.
The fastest laps in order by Formula One Drivers on the Top Gear test track.
The following times are the officially recorded complete lap times in a Suzuki Liana around the top gear test track:
- Daniel Ricciardo - 1:42.2
- Lewis Hamilton- 1:42.9
- Mark Webber - 1:43.1
- Sebastian Vettel - 1:44.0
- Rubens Barrichello - 1:44.3
- Nigel Mansell - 1:44.6
- Jenson Button - 1:44.7
- Kimi Räikkönen - 1:46.1
- Damon Hill - 1:46.3
It should be noted that the times set by Jenson Button and Kimi Räikkönen were set in quite different conditions from the other drivers and may account for why they are slower.
Who created the 'Formula One drivers' line on the Top Gear test track?
Traditionally drivers entered the first corner of the Top Gear test track with a wide line, in July 2011, Sebastian Vettel took a much tighter line on the first corner and achieved the fastest time around the track by any driver that had previously raced it.
Jeremy Clarkson named this style the Formula One driver’s line as only F1 drivers were brave enough and had the talent to execute this move and keep the car on the track.
How did Daniel Ricciardo beat Lewis Hamilton’s time on Top Gear?
Daniel Ricciardo simply followed the same line that Sebastian Vettel first created but took it tighter than ever before. He latter claimed that he travelled less distance than Lewis Hamilton, thus recording the fastest time ever around the Top Gear track by a formula 1 driver.
Why was Kimi Räikkönen so slow on the Top Gear Test Track?
Kimi Räikkönen’s time of 1:46.1 is surprisingly one of the slowest individual laps by a Formula 1 driver around the top gear test track. This was as a result of the track conditions being described as ‘very wet’. In typical Kimi Räikkönen fashion, he was not too bothered or concerned.
Kimi Räikkönen’s time around the Top Gear test track in very wet conditions was still 0.2 seconds faster than Damon Hill managed in the dry.
Only one driver has gone slower than Kimi Räikkönen and Damon Hill around the Top Gear test track in a Suzuki Liana in wet conditions and that was Mark Webber, with a full one second slower lap, but this was in extremely wet conditions. Webber later returned to record the third fastest lap by a Formula 1 driver around the Top Gear test track.
Were any celebrities faster than a F1 driver on the Top Gear test track?
In total 66 other celebrity guests attempted to set a fast time in the Suzuki Liana on the Top Gear test track, but none of them could match the times set by Formula One drivers, in fact the slowest time set by a F1 driver, in extreme wet conditions was never beaten by a celebrity in the dry.
The best times set by a celebrity in the same Suzuki Liana are:
- Ellen MacArthur - 1:46.7
- Jimmy Carr - 1:46.9
- Simon Cowell - 1:47.1
- Ronnie O'Sullivan - 1:47.3
- Ian Wright 1:47.8
The closest time set to an F1 drivers time on the Top Gear test track was actually set by the then in-house race driver, ‘The Black Stig’, with a time of 1:46.0, just slightly faster than the time set by former F1 driver Damon Hill.